Recipes

Jalapeno Harvest…Again

/ TaMara / Leave a comment

I harvested about five pounds of jalapenos and purchased a couple pounds of Poblanos and roasted them. I peeled and froze the Poblanos to make Creamy Poblano Soup later. The jalapenos I made into pickled relish and froze.

One issue with roasting the jalapenos as long as I did, is the relish becomes more of a “spread” – they disintegrated when I chopped them.  This is not going to matter to me because they will be used in soups, stews, and on sandwiches and will taste great regardless of the texture.

In the photo, you will see the jalapenos and tomatoes I have harvested since the roasting…and since the photo I’ve harvested that many or more, again. I swear the jalapeno fairy just deposits them on the plants in the middle of the night. They were not there before, LOL.

I’ll most likely buy some more Poblanos and do another round of roasting. But there may only be one jalapeno plant next year.

 

September Grilling: Cantanzaro Chicken and Tuscan Panzanella Salad

/ TaMara / 2 Comments

Tonight’s menu features the Cantanzaro spice mix. Cantanzaro is a city in Italy.  So there are a lot of herbs this Italian girl recognizes: marjoram, basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano. And garlic, lots of garlic. But the kicker is the lemon and lemon peel.

It’s all very fresh for late summer/early fall harvest and great for grilling. Then I’ve added a fresh take on how to use the last of those fresh tomatoes. And just because I’m feeling ambitious, I included Gelato recipes.

On the board tonight:

  1. Grilled Cantanzaro Herbed Chicken Breasts
  2. Grilled Potatoes and Peppers (recipe here)
  3. Tuscan Panzanella Salad (recipe here)*
  4. Gelato (recipes here)

*the recipe calls for bread bowls, but with this meal, I served it over a bed of bibb lettuce.

Continue reading →

Life Is Short…Eat Ice Cream!

/ TaMara / 1 Comment

Ice Cream or Gelato? Why not both?!

Yummy Vanilla Nut Crunch can be found here.

And two Strawberry Ice Cream recipes here.

I have also made plenty of gelatos. It is definitely one of my favorite styles of ice cream. Smooth, creamy and not as heavy as many full cream styles.

Pictured above, Chocolate Hazelnut Gelato – one of my favorites. Recipe here.

Gelato starts with a good base that you can then add any number of flavors to: Continue reading →

Garden Fresh: Summer Salsas

/ TaMara / 1 Comment

The tomato harvest has been lackluster this year. Weird weather has caused the fruit to be small and slow to ripen. Some I’m afraid are not going to ripen at all. The San Marzano, which should be about the size of a Roma, look more like cherry tomatoes. Early Girls are anything but early and no bigger than golf balls. And I have to wonder what the Park Wonders would look like in a good year – beefsteak size for sure. Flavor has been great on all of them, so I take comfort in that.

Since the jalapenos are not only abundant this year, but incredibly hot, I decided to try and roast them to bring out a bit of the sweetness. It wasn’t all that successful, but I did manage to make a couple of jars of pickled jalapeno and freeze them to use sparingly in cooking over the winter. Continue reading →

Summer Salads: Chipotle Macaroni Salad

/ TaMara

Pictured: Quick and Easy Pasta Salad, recipe here, along with several other summer salad recipes.

One of my favorites:

Chipotle Macaroni Salad

Chipotle Mayonnaise:

  • 1 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
  • 1 tbsp limejuice

Mix together ingredients and set aside while macaroni cooks.

Macaroni Salad:

  • 1 lb elbow macaroni
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 stalk celery, minced
  • 4 green onions, chopped
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp minced parsley
  • 2 large tomatoes, chopped (or equivalent)
  • 8 oz cubed sharp cheddar cheese
  • 4 thick cut bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (optional)
  • 1 cup chipotle mayonnaise
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring water to a boil, add 1 tsp salt and macaroni. Cook until al dente (firm to tooth). Immediately drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Do not drain well, allow macaroni to stay wet, remove to bowl. Immediately add garlic, celery, onion, parsley and lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in cheddar cheese, tomatoes, bacon and chipotle mayonnaise. Salt and pepper to taste. Allow to chill 15 – 30 minutes. Serves 8-10.

Next week: Some duck photos, roasted jalapenos, Key Lime bars. Stay tuned…

 

Peach Week Dinner Menu: Peach Chutney on Grilled Pork

/ TaMara / 1 Comment

Jeffrey W Pickled Peaches

Fires and late freezes last year left us with very few peaches from the Western Slope. But this year, a bumper crop means a fresh delivery from the Palisades farms every few days. I buy a few each time,  so that I don’t have to many overripening on the counter.

This is one of my favorite peach recipes. Great on grilled pork or chicken.

On the board tonight:

  1. Grilled Pork Chops
  2. Peach Chutney
  3. Green beans in Butter
  4. Couscous

Grilled Pork Chops w/Peach Chutney

  • 4 pork chops, medium thickness
  • ½ tsp crushed garlic
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • ½ cup Peach Chutney

Continue reading →

Farmer’s Market Week: Green Beans w/Red Peppers

/ TaMara / 1 Comment

The garden is starting to overflow with ready-to-pick goodies. Here are some new flavors to try with fresh green beans. Below are stovetop and instant pot instructions.

Photo: Betty Crocker

Green Beans w/Red Peppers:

  • 1 lb green beans, trimmed
  • 1 red pepper, seeded and sliced in strips
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 oz sliced black olives
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes

Stovetop: Continue reading →

Dinner Menu: Beef and Pepper Subs with Pear-Walnut Salad

/ TaMara / 1 Comment

This is a quick and easy dinner and the pear salad has a nice, fresh flavor that is really complimented by the walnut oil and blue cheese.

I’ve been wanting to make bread for a few weeks, but the temperatures in the upper nineties and even breaking one hundred a couple days in a row meant the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven.

Today will stay in the low seventies for much of the morning, so I felt like I could risk a nice round of baking. I turned this recipe into one loaf and four sub rolls.

Beef & Pepper Subs Continue reading →